Ed sent us this photo, taken on his holiday here in August. While Nancy did her best to get photos of the mergansers, dashing light footed along the shore snapping away madly while the young ducks fished in the shallows, Ed simply paddled out in his canoe, and the whole flock sailed right beside him.
You can see "mom", in the back, shepherding her unruly brood along.
You can almost see the sharp, toothlike edges on the bill of the noisy youngster leading the parade -- he actually CAN see the hook at the tip of the bill. These ducks are also known as sheldrakes, or sawbill, because of this beak design. It works very well for fishing!
We've had the mergansers in the bay a lot this summer. Along with loons, and great blue herons. All of which would indicate that the fish are here. I'm told that 90% of the fish are in 10% of the lake, and 90% of the fishermen are in the other 90% of the lake. Probably true. As my father used to say about fishing, 'the fishing is great. The catching can be harder.'
Not for these ducks, however. To have such a large flock -- there were 36 of them here in July! -- there must be fish in these waters!
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